Dark Chocolate Ginger Almond Cookies

Breaking the pieces of the glossy, almost-black colored chunks into the copper saucepan evoked sheer pleasure. The reflection of the rich, dark, precious commodity against the metal even made the sun peek from behind the thick, heavy clouds. It was raining, as it so often does throughout January, dampening our moods and drowning out any desire of life. We had been lying on the couch for hours - listless, lifeless and limp. Couch potatoes, grumping over the wind and weather and as the hours lethargically dragged on, our moods stooped further. There was only one cure for this: CHOCOLATE.

The chocolate kick had to be of the fast and furious kind. It had to be wrapped in a treat of flakey and nutty pastry, each bite satiating the senses and bringing back the zest and passion into our drab day. And as I pulled back the silver paper, revealing the gleaming bar, I swear a ray of sunlight broke through the grey, exposing the blue behind.

As the squares melted into a gleaming liquid, fingers were dipped and chocolate smeared grins lit up the room. The sun, envious of our indulgence, came out a bit more, pushing the clouds further away. We dipped the nutty, flaky pastries into the smooth, rich elixir and waited impatiently for them to dry, blowing ever so gently to help the process along. Above, the inquisitive sun banished the howling winds, bringing a soothing tranquility.

Hot milk and honey, a plate of chocolate ginger cookies and a bright sunny day outside soon had us making plans for the afternoon. Filled with new energy and vitality we packed our bags, grabbing a few more luscious cookies … to make sure the sun was tempted enough to stay out and play with us. After all … chocolate has always had mystical powers.

A chocolate cure for the chocoholic. This is a subtle yet sublime treat for the chocolate fans out there and … hand on your chocolate hearts... aren’t we always on the look-out for new ways to enjoy our favorite food group?

How do you like your chocolate?

These dark chocolate ginger almond cookies will have people of all ages eating out of your hands. But there is an ever so slight grown-up touch with the sensational highlight of the candied ginger added to these cookies. A great Valentine day treat for your loved ones!

Place 150g dark chocolate in a double boiler and melt until smooth. Allow to cool. Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees C.

In a clean bowl add the ground almonds, icing sugar, cardamom, sugar, salt, chopped candied ginger and the remaining chocolate in a bowl. Pour the melted chocolate and the egg whites and mix together until it comes together into smooth. homogeneous dough.

Scatter some flour on the countertop and quickly roll out the dough into a 25 x 25 cm square, about 2 cm thick. Cut into smaller squares then each square diagonally to give you triangles.

Place the triangles on a baking tray, 2cm apart, then back for about 4-5 minutes. Take out of oven and allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, melt the 100g dark chocolate in a double boiler. Once melted, dip one side of the triangles into the chocolate and allow to dry on some baking paper.

To store. place the cooled and dried cookies in cookie boxes layered in between baking paper. Stored this way the should keep for 2 weeks (if you can resist not eating them in one sitting).

Verdict

I love the way the crystallized ginger shimmers in between the chunks of chocolate. A flaky, chunky and chewy treat with flavors that explode in your mouth. Wrap them in some red crepe paper and gift them to your favorite girlfriend, to your kids or the man of your dreams … they will be eating out of your hands.

Each week as I virtually walk the web I always find some fun, creative or interesting details that inspire me, leave me breathless or simply make me hungry. I often share these via Twitter or Facebook but I thought it would be great to share my faves each week here on the blog too.

This week I fell in love with some beautiful handmade ceramics from Mia in Stockholm, was blown away by Johanna’s creative illustrated blog, was excited to party with Holly at her #bloghug party. and wanted to move to a dream villa … and more ….

51 comments:

Ah, I think baking really works wonders on a grumpy spirit and slouchy mood. And then sitting down to eat these wonders! There is something so elegant about your little chocolate-dipped biscuits and you make me want to try them - JP would love the candied ginger, I could see them with dried cherries. Either way...perfect.

Baking is perfect for lifting my mood and it's clear both of our kitchens were filled with fresh cookies this week:) I absolutely love the idea of combining both chocolate, ginger and almonds. Need to try that!

Isn't chocolate the most amazing wonder medicine? These little treats are just looking like the thing I need today! We're leaving in a few hours time, all is done and dusted here... and I'm bored... Want to leave now... I think I could definitely use some of these! Have fun in London!

Please send some over! It really was a chocolate kind of a day and I am so craving these cookies! BTW, the next package arrived today - delectable Calissons and Nougat de Montélimar for the workshop ;-)Hugs dear,Sandy

OMG look at the state of those cookies...! Ginger and chocolate are always a winning combination in my book. And how do I like my chocolate? The darker the better! ;o) Wanna bring me a batch of these when you visit next week?!

I tried making this recipe tonight in preparation for Valentines Day. My dough just didn't come together as the recipe describes. It was quite dry. It didn't seem like there was enough wet ingredients to make a smooth and homogenous dough. I ended up just rolling them into little balls and flattening them with my hand since I couldn't get the dough to roll out for me. They taste good, but I'm wondering if they should be even better. Should the almonds be ground to almost a flour like consistency? I ground my up to a course texture, but definitely not a flour or find texture. Would that make a difference? Is there something else I should add to make the dough come together better? I did throw some chopped dried cherries in and the combination is great! Thank you for any thoughts or advice you might have! -Jessica

Thanks for your comment and feedback. I am not exactly sure where they could have gone wrong. The ground almonds should be very fine mine are not as fine as flour but a tad coarser. The egg whites keeps it moist and pliable and that is all you need. Maybe the almonds you used were too coarse? And maybe the additional "dry" ingredient of the cherries also made it more difficult to roll out. They do taste great and I hope you try them out again. Should you really face it being dry again maybe add a few drops of water to make it more "rollable".

Thank you Meeta for responding! I'll definitely try these again, but with a finer ground almond. My husband and I love ginger, chocolate, and almonds, so a combination of all three is fantastic! -Jessica

Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hello, I am Meeta a freelance food photographer, stylist and writer living in the cuturally rich city of Weimar, Germany with my husband and our son, where I enjoy preparing multi-cultural home cooked meals with fresh organic ingredients. What's for lunch, Honey? is my award winning food blog where I combine my love for food with my love for photography and styling...